Geoege massie



(No Model.)

G. MASSIE.

CIGAR PRESS. No. 800,994. Patented June 24, 1884.

c /yizarrzg- UNTTE STATES PATENT Prion.

GEORGE MASSIE, OF NEV YORK, N. Y.

CIGAR-PRESS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent; No. 300,994, dated June 24, 1884.

Application filed May 6,1884. (No model.)

To all whom. it may concern..-

Be it known that I, GEORGE MAssIE, a citizen of the United States, residing in the. city of New York, in the county and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Cigar-Presses; and Ihereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form apart of this specification.

This invention relates to an improvement in cigar-presses of the kind which are used for pressing cigars into proper form before the wrappers are put on.

In the usual method as heretofore practiced the cigars are placed in the molds and the latter put into a frame having a top bar or follower, which is perforated near its two ends to receive the upright bars of the frame. The molds having been placed in a stack in this frame and the frame placed under the screw of the press, this top bar or follower is pressed down on the top of the molds in said frame, and when the required degree of pressure has been exerted iron wedges are driven into said perforations to keep the follower in position, and the frame containing the molds is removed from the press and set aside until the cigars in the molds, under such pressure, have permanently assumed the proper form, after which the wedges are knocked out with a hammer and the cigars removed therefrom to receive the wrappers. This repeated hammering on the wedges very soon wears out the top bar or follower, which splits at its ends under the strain of the wedges and becomes useless, and must be replaced by a new one; and in addition to this, much time, as well as labor, is expended in driving in the wedges and removing the same.

The object of my improvement is to obviate these difficulties, and this I accomplish by dispensing with the use of wedges and substituting therefor anovel device by means of which the top bar or follower is automatically retained in the position into which it has been brought by the press, and is released without could by the usual method, and the top 'bar will last as long as the rest of the frame.

The invention consists in an improved device, hereinafter particularly described, for automatically retaining the top bar above mentioned in position and releasing the same when required, and in the combination of the same with the mold-frame of a cigar-press, in the manner hereinafter set forth.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents an elevation of a cigar press and frame With my improvement. Fig. 2 is a front View of the mold-frame removed from the press. Fig. 3 is a side view of said frame; and Fig. 4. is aview of my improved device, drawn 011 an enlarged scale.

Similar letters of reference indicate the same parts in all the figures.

A represents a press, which may be of suitable construction. In the drawings I have shown a presshaving a hand-screw, a, at the lower end of which is a block, -b, which is pressed down bythe screw to bear upon the top bar or follower f of the mold-frame B.

0 represents the molds in which the cigars are placed, which said molds may be of the ordinary construction, and stacked within the frame in the usual manner.

The frame B consists of two upright bars, (1 d, and a cross-bar, e, to which the lower ends of said bars (Z d are rigidly attached.

f is the top bar or follower, which is perforated near its ends to permit it to slide up and down upon the bars (I d. In the frames heretofore used the follower f was held in position by driving wedges into these perforations, as above described. In my improvement ratchet-teeth are formed on the outer edges of the upright bars cl d, and on the ends of the follower f, I form downwardly-extending projections or cars it h, in each of which is locateda latch or catch, c', which engages with said ratchet-teeth. The stems of said catches ipass through and slide to and fro within the ears h h, and near their outer ends are perforated to receive handles 1 Z, which are pivoted thereto. Said catches are normally held in contact with their respective ratchet-teeth by means of spiral springs placed upon their stems, as shown, and are disengaged by means of the handles Z Z.

When the frame 13 has been placed in the press with the molds in position, the follower is pressed down upon the molds by turning the screw (6, and is held in position by the catches, and may then be removed from the press to stand for the requisite length of time with the molds under pressure; and when the molds are to be removed this is done by simply taking hold of the handles and bringing them into the position shown by the dottedlines in Fig. 4, the handle operating as a lever, acting upon a slightly-projecting portion, at, of the ear h, and thereby drawing hack the catch from contact with the ratchet-teeth.

hat I claim as my invention is 1. The mold-frame B, having ratchet-teeth formed on the outer edges of its upright bars (I d, and provided with a follower, f, having! \V. 'I. JA UEs, JOHN S. THORNTON. 

